Fastening clip



June 5, 1951 1. E. BALES 2,555,562

F'ASTENING CLIP Filed OCt. 22, 1947 INVENToR.

www @MEM Patented June 5, 1.951

FASTENING CLIP` James E. Bales, Aurora, Ill., assigner to Lyon MetalProducts, Incorporated, Aurora, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Originalapplication April 2, 1945, Serial No. 586,113. Divided and thisapplication October 22, 1947, Serial No. 781,412

2 Claims.

holding objects including shelving members in predetermined position.

The present invention is directed to a clip for holding together variousarticles, wherein the clip is made of sheet material and preferablysheet metal. While the clip is capable of general application it isspecifically designed for holding together perforated members of sheetmetal construction specifically designed for shelf constructions and thelike, although the invention is capable of broader application.

The present invention is a division of my prior filed application SerialNo. 586,113, filed April 2, 1945, wherein the claims are drawn to thecornbination of the clip and the shelf construction of sheet material.The claims of the present divisional application are drawn to the clipitself.

The broad object of the present invention is to provide a sheet metalclip having the characteristics hereinafter described.

Among the objects of the present invention is to provide an easilyattachable means for interconnecting the separable parts of a structureformed of sheet metal or other sheet material, and more particularly toprovide a detachable fastener which has means adapted to pass throughregistering holes of two or more members to be fastened together andwhich has also means adapted to engage one of the members to prevent thefastener from being rotated about the hole.

Yet another object of the invention resides in providing a simple typeof detachable fastener for detachably interconnecting a partition ordivider plate or plates to a sheet material shelving in which thepartition or divider plate has a normally extending flange provided withspaced perforations adapted to register with spaced perforations formedin the shelf, and wherein the fastening means includes a resilient prongor member adapted to pass through the registering openings of the twomembers and includes a resilient body portion adapted resiliently toengage the at surface of one of the members whereby to hold the prong inengaging position and without turning with respect to the registeringapertures.

Yet another object of the invention resides in providing a compactlymade fastener of sheet metal which includes a resilient portion and arelatively resilient tongue which is adapted to be pressed by thefingers of the operator for insertion in registering holes of two ormore sheet metal members to be held together so that when once insertedand released, the resiliency of the body of the member will hold theresilient tongue in fastening position and will hold the body of themember snugly to the flat surface of the member.

Another object of the invention resides in providing a fastening meansfor a divider plate for a shelf installation comprising a divider havinga normal flange with spaced holes therein adapted to register withspaced holes of a sheet metal shelf structure and wherein a plurality offastening means are provided including resilient tongues adapted to bepressed into the registering openings of the members to beinterconnected and including likewise an elongated skeletal resilientsheet metal body normally of curved contour which is adapted resilientlyto grip the flat surface of one of the members and by means of itsresiliency, not only to hold thelsaid flat surfaces together, but alsoto hold the inner engaging tongue in connective relationship with thetwo members to be interconnected.

Yet another object of the invention resides in providing, in combinationwith a pair of shelves having upper and lower registering openings and adivider plate having parallel flanges extending normally to the plane ofthe divider and provided with openings adapted to register with those ofthe shelves, a plulrality of sheet metal resilient fastening means eachincluding an elongated resilient tongue particularly shaped to beinserted in the registering openings of the members to be fastenedtogether and including likewise a body portion surrounding the tongueand of resilient curved contour adapted snugly to clip against the Iiatsurface of one of the members to be interconnected and to hold thetongue in connected position while at the same time permitting quickdetachment of the tongue from the spaced holes to release the members.

Yet another object of the invention resides in providing a substantiallyelongated skeletal-like fastening member of sheet metal spring materialhaving an arcuate curve longitudinally of itself which frame-likeskeletal member has, eX- tending inwardly from one en d thereof, anelongated tongue carrying a reverse curve, the free end of the tonguebeing disposed slightly out of the plane of the curvature of theframe-like vmember whereby when the tongue is inserted into theregistering apertures of two or more iiat sheet metal members to beinterconnected the resilient over-all curvature of the frame-like Yportion will snugly grip said flat surface and Vwill serve to "maintainthe tongue in interlocking, interconneciting position in the registeringapertures of the two members.

Yet another object of the invention resides in providing an elongated,relatively narrow, rectangular frame-like body of sheet metal having anover-all curve longitudinally thereof together with a tongue extendingparallel .to the longer sides of the frame and between them, the tonguehaving a reverse curve therein Yextending -on opposite sides of thenormal curvilinear plane of the frame-like portion, whereby when thetongue is inserted into registering apertures formed midway of the widthof the relatively narrow flange carried by the upper and lower edges ofa divider plate disposed sbetween sheet metal shelves, the longitudinal:edgeof the frame-like body will `contact-the .adjacent .edge Aof theverticalV wall -of the partition whereby to prevent the fastening meansfrom rotating with respect to the partition member.

Yet another object `of the .invention resides in providing a fasteningmeans of the foregoing type wherein the tongue when engaged in theregistering apertures of the shelf land :divider holes, serves to bracethe divider againstshifting sidewise. Y

Yet another object of the invention resides in forming the freeresilient tongue of the fastening means in such a manner that when theend of the tongue 'is entered into the holes "of the divider or dividers.and yshel-i` .a continued `pressure on the tongue will Icause it to.snap into finally desired position, and wherein thereafter thecurvature of the body portion carrying the tongue and its inherentresiliency will cause the body portion to lie nat and the tongue toremain in interlocking position in the registering holes of the portionsto be interconnected.

Yet another object of the invention resides -in providing Ya fastenermember .of resilient sheet metal material includ-ing .a resilient tongueiconstructed such that either slightly increased or decreasedthicknesses of the vdivider or of the shelf material will not .affect.the holding .quality of the fastener nor prevent the tongue point fromlying .as close to theshelf .or .divider as is desired.

Yet another object of the invention resides .in providing fasteningmeans of resilient material and imparting a normal longitudinal.curvature thereto so that the ends of the fastener will lie close tothe surface `of the vdivider flange lor shelf or other members tobeIheld together so :as to prevent objects from catching yonto them.

Yet .another object Vof `the invention resides in providing a fastenerof the .foregoing-characteristics wherein the .free resilient tongue isformed at an .ang-le so as to provide the .desired :strength to `clearthe thickness vof the divider and the shelf material -or objects to :be.held and also 'to prevent removal of the fastener without lfirstlifting the upper end of the fastener and pulling the `tongue out Yofthe holes of the divider and ythe shelf.

Yet another object of the 'invention resides in providing .a fastenerhaving Ya tongue provided with a specic bend intermediate its endssufficiently deep so that the usual variation in thicknesses of theshelf and divider material will not make the free end of the tongueproject away from the divider or shelf surface, and wherein the tongueat its eXtreme end is provided with a slight bend for the purpose ofguiding it through the divider and shelf holes into which the tongue isinserted.

Another object of the invention is to provide a substantially`rectangular fastener having an intermediate noati-ng tongue, thefastener being` formed of spring-like material` wherein only one size offastener is needed for holding sheet metal or sheet material perforatedportions together at spaced apart points.

|These .and 'other .dbjects of invention will be apparent from Aa'perusal of the following specificaltion when taken in connection withtheV accompanying drawings, wherein:

.Figure 1 is a perspective view of a divider or .partition heldinposition between two horizontal shelves by means of the improvedfastener;

Figure A2 is a section taken on the line 2--2 of Figure l; K Y

Figure S-is fa Vsection taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2; Y Y Y Figure-4-is a section taken-on theline 'll-'4 of Figure 2;

Fig-ure 5 is an'edge'view ofthe fastener; andY Figure 6 lis aperspective view ofthefastener.

To illustrate the invention Iha-ve shown the oli-p or fastener asholding the `partition or divider plate 2 formed of sheet material,Vparticularly sheet metal, in posi-tion `between two horizontal shelvesil and Y'l2-tis, of course, Aunderstood that the invention oft-he 'clipis lof lbroad Vapplication and is broadly adaptable for holding togethermany ,ty-pes of sheet material not specifically limited to perforatedsheets. 'There isV also illustrated "a rsheet Vmetai hacking tV which isnot par ticular'ly concerned with the vdisclosureof the invention. Thepartition member is of sheet metal and shows its front and Yrear edgesrolled, as at i@ andV i2, 'for -strengthand t-o hide raw edges. YIThetwo shelves -ii and i3 are preferably of sheet material and 'each isshown as provided with -a fro-nt depending skirt DM Ahaving an4iriwardiy extending, upturned iiange -l'G fat lthe front and arearwardly depending skirt ii having an -uptur-ned nange i9, at therear. "'iheto-p edge of the partition 2 is provided with a rig-ht angledan'ge V0 having two lspaced perforations '22 'and 2li, theper-forationssbeiing slightly elongated in a direction parallel with thelongitudinal axis of the ange 2i). These 'holes i2? and Eii are for-medmidway of 'the width Aof this flange. Ina similar manner, the bottomedge of the partition 2 `is provided with a normallydisposed flange 2,6having the simiiar registering `per-forations 2% and 3! which -are notapparent in vrFigure l because of the presence :of the fastener. It tohe pointed out `.that the `shelves .il `and 'o are Veach provided withspaced holes 32 and .34 which are :spaced apart a `distance .equal tothe @distance between the centers of the two 4elongated spaced holes 22and 2d of fthe upper andjlowerliianges 2553 and 2f6 V1so that when thepartition or `divider 2 is inser-ted in position :as shown in Figure ibetween the `upper and lower shelves fl 4and t, the holes the -:twoflanges and the upper and lower 'shelves 5, narrow vsheet metalmaterial. The portion 4I is considerably longer than the width of theend 42 thereof. One of the ends 42 has projecting inwardly therefrom aresilient, elongated tongue 43 of material integrally formed from thebody of the fastener, and this tongue extends parallel to the two sides4| and terminates at the point 4E somewhat short of the opposite end 42.This tongue is substantially of the same width as the body portion 4lalthough if desired it may be somewhat wider for additional strength.Being formed of resilient spring metal, it possesses inherentresiliency. Particular attention is directed to the fact that theskeletal body portion 4| is given an over-all curvature as shown by theline 50 of Figure 5. `'Ihis is for the purpose of causing the endportions 42 to lie up close to the surface of the divider flange andprevent objects from catching onto them.

The tongue of the fastener is formed to the angle shown, so as toprovide the desired strength to clear the thickness of the divider andshelf material and also to prevent removal of the fastener without firstlifting the end 42 of the fastener, as shown in Figure 3, and thenpulling the tongue out of the registering holes formed in the dividerand shelf. In addition, the portion 44l of the tongue is madesufficiently deep so that the usual variation in thickness of shelf anddivider material will not make the extreme end 46 of the tongue pointproject away from the divider or shelf surface. The extreme end 46 ofthe tongue 43 is given a slight bend, as shown particularly in Figure 5,for the purpose of guiding the end of the tongue through the divider andshelf holes when the tongue is inserted therein.

In the foregoing, by reference to Figure 3 it will be seen that the freeend 46 of the tongue 43 will tend to lie nat against the upper face ofthe shelf 4 and that by reason of the curvature of the skeletal frame,as shown in Figure 3, the body portion will tend to lie at against theunderside of the flange of the partition 2. It is to be understood, asshown in Figure 2, that when the fastener is placed in position as shownin Figure 1, the parallel sides 4l of the fastener will engage the lowervertical wall of the divider 2 so that the fastener cannot rotate aboutthe point where the tongue passes through the registering holes in thedivider flange 25 and the shelf.

One of the important advantages of the present type of fastener residesin the fact that dividers are usually held in place by fastening them attwo or more points of each flange, and these holes are not always thesame distance apart. Hence when the present fasteners are used, only onetype of fastener is required, as it will always enter registering holesof two fiat portions to be interconnected and is not dependent upon thedistance these particular registering holes are from any otherregistering holes in the two members to be fastened together.

It will be apparent that this type of fastener may be used tointerconnect the flanges of upper and lower vertical dividers disposedon opposite sides of a horizontal shelf, or in fact, of any partitionmembers or shelf members or any other type of sheet metal members whichare capable of being interconnected due to the fact that they havenormally disposed flanges forming juxtaposed flat surfaces and areprovided with registering holes of a shape capable of receiving thetongues of the fastening members. In short, a fastening member mayinterconnect two or more divider plates with three shelves, or mayconnect a single divider between two shelves, or may connect a dividerbetween a perforated top and a subadjacent spaced shelf. In any case theskeletal body of the fastening means is always adapted to overlie orunderlie the flange of the divider so that the long edge 4l of the bodywill be juxtaposed to the normally disposed wall of the divider toprevent rotation of the fastening means with respect to the divider.

Obviously the invention isV not limited to thel specific details ofconstruction disclosed herein but is capable of other modifications andchanges without departing from the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A fastener member for securing together sheet material members havingregistering apertures comprising an elongated skeleton frame ofresilient material having a normal curvature in the direction of thelongitudinal axis thereof, an elongated resilient tongue extendinggenerally along the longitudinal axis of said frame and including asubstantially straight base portion secured at one end of said frame andinclined tangentially outwardly from one face of said frame and saidtongue also having a free end portion adjacent the opposite end of saidframe and disposed outwardly of the same face thereof as said baseportion in normal untensioned position, said tongue having a bentportion joined to the proximate ends of said base portion and said freeend portion outwardly of the said one face and eX- tending through saidframe and disposed outwardly of the opposite face thereof in normaluntensioned position with the said bent portion providing a connectingstrap adapted to accommodate varying thicknesses of sheet materialmembers between the frame and the free end portion of said tongue.

2. A fastener member for securing together sheet material members havingregistering apertures and including an elongated skeleton frame ofresilient material having a normal arcuate curvature in the direction ofthe longitudinal axis thereof and adapted to be positioned with theconcave face thereof adjacent one sheet material member to be securedand further comprising an elongated resilient tongue having asubstantially straight base portion secured to one end of said frame andextending along the longitudinal axis thereof and projectingtangentially outwardly from the convex face thereof in normaluntensioned position and said tongue also including a free end portionadjacent the opposite end of said frame and disposed exteriorly of thesaid convex face thereof in normal untensioned position, and said tonguehaving a bent portion joined to the proximate ends of said base portionand said free end portion outwardly of said convex face and extendingthrough said frame and disposed exteriorly of the opposite concave facethereof in normal untensioned position, and said base portion being.depressible to project the free eind portion of said tongue through theframe and outwardly of the concave side thereof to receive sheetmaterial members between the free end portion of said tongue and theadjacent concave face of said frame with the bent portion providing aconnecting strap adapted to accommodate varying thicknesses of sheetmaterial members between the frame and the free end portion of saidtongue withl fthe ends o'f ithe 'if-'rame maintained underension againstfthe adjacent ysheet malteravl member.

SITED The -following references 'are of record in the le of this'ipa'tentz UNITED :STATES PATENTS Number Nan-ne Date 349;902Richamdsonfet lai. Semois. 28, '1886 58735099 Shepard Dec. 10, 1907929,380 Black-119m July 257, 15909 Number 'Timmerman May 194i) TimmermanDec. 9, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great .Britain K Aug. 10,v1922

